Hope, Help & Healing for a Bear

Hope, Help & Healing for a Bear

This GoFundMe is to help Latrell Jackson and his family. Latrell lives in White Bear Lake. He & his family have been an important part of the White Bear Lake community attending Mastoska, Sunrise Park & North. His younger brother Leon attends Sunrise Park and his mom, Mentoyia works at Matoska.  The Jacksons have been through an unimaginable & continuing ordeal over the past 5 months.  With everything that is going on in the world, plus this experience, we are hoping that WE can all unite as a community to help a bear during these holidays.

This past June, Latrell went with his aunt & his younger brother to visit his grandmother in Chicago. This was the first time they had been to visit in 11 years. On the way to get snacks for the family the car Latrell was in was hit by gunfire. Latrell turned around to comfort his 2 year old cousin who was also in the car,  when Latrell was shot 7 times in the torso. Latrell stayed conscious long enough to understand what was happening but lost consciousness before a stranger stopped to help give them a ride to the hospital. 

At the hospital, they found the extent of the damage. His injuries were severe. Latrell suffered a collapsed left lung, internal bleeding, damage to his stomach, small & large intestines, a split kidney, a lacerated spleen, broken ribs, and damage to his back & hip. He had multiple surgeries, and doctors weren’t sure if he would ever recover or wake up. Despite what the doctors thought, Latrell defied all expectations and was out of the hospital 11 days later. He moved to his grandma’s house in Chicago, until he was well enough to handle the flight back to the Twin Cities. Once in the Twin Cities he stayed at his aunt’s for 2 days until his home in White Bear Lake was prepared and ready for the accommodations he now needs. Latrell’s mom had to stop working to stay home with him full time during the initial stages of his recovery. She is the sole wage earner for Latrell and his younger brother.  

His road to recovery is long. He has had to relearn how to feed, bathe & dress himself. He continues in physical therapy three times a week. He currently walks with a cane and can stand for only minutes at time. He deals with daily pain from broken ribs and damaged back muscles.   Because of his injuries and loss of blood Latrell is anemic & has continued digestive problems. This has also had an emotional cost on Latrell & his family. In Latrell’s own words, “It took a toll on my head. It’s left me questioning things. I would never wish this on anyone. Stuff like this changes people, maybe for the better, even though it shouldn’t have been like that.” Latrell is also starting mental health support to help him deal with all the emotions that come with a major life changing event like this. 

The family’s car is currently not working. Fortunately, Latrell is able to take a medical van to his appointments. If he needs to go other places, he has to ask for rides, take a cab/Uber or take the city bus. 

In spite of all of this Latrell is pushing himself both academically and physically. He wants to be ready for next year’s high school varsity basketball season. His goal is to earn a scholarship to play basketball in college and he is determined to meet this goal. 

All of this has taken an emotional and financial toll on the Jackson Family. Currently, Latrell has more than $6,000 in medical bills and lost wages. They also have continued expenses for Latrell’s care and nutritional needs and not to mention the holidays are around the corner.  This GoFundMe was set up to help The Jackson Family pay for the following items: 

Medical bills & medicines not covered by insurance (due to being out of network in Chicago)
- Wages lost due to Latrell’s mom needing to stop working to care for him
- Cover the cost of rides or to fix the family car. 
- Help pay for healthy, clean food, to maintain Latrell’s nutritional health 

If you are unable to donate money there are other ways to help too:

- You can share this GoFundMe on social media
- You can send good thoughts to the family
- You can reach out to them to show support. 

This GoFundMe will be open until January 8th, just in time for Latrell to celebrate his 17th birthday.